The fastest structured path from
office to skilled-trade income
White-Collar Roles Are in Decline
Corporate adoption of AI has surged with 88% of organisations now using AI in at least one business function, triggering a fundamental restructuring of white-collar work.
Human labour in cognitive roles is being systematically revalued as automation accelerates.
Workforce Redundant
Unemployment rising at fastest rate since 2012
Unemployment Rate
Highest level since 2012 as restructuring accelerates
Increase in Graduate Competition
140 applicants per graduate role as corporate teams shrink
Decrease in Mid-Level Jobs
Corporate role consolidation eliminating middle management
* UK data, 2026
Skilled Trades Are in Structural Demand
While cognitive roles compress under AI, skilled manual work expands.
The existing workforce is already struggling to meet current demand, and infrastructure growth in housing, energy, data centres, and electrification is accelerating the future need dramatically.
New Workers Needed
New skilled workers required in the trades sector over the next decade
Companies Affected
Of construction firms report that labour shortages are actively impacting business
Ageing Workforce
Of all tradespeople are over 50 or approaching retirement — exits will outpace new entrants
* UK data, 2026
Outdated Career Transition Paths
The transition pathway is broken. Existing training programmes were designed for school leavers.
They take 1–3 years to complete and fail to provide a clear, fast path to earned income. Career-changers are being forced into systems that were never built for them.
What's Missing?
Speed to Income
Traditional routes take years before a learner can start earning
Market Readiness
Graduates lack the practical, client-facing skills employers demand on day one
Modern Delivery
Classroom-only formats ignore digital tools, simulation, and flexible scheduling
The Renzo Learning Model
Digital Learning
Structured online modules designed for adult learners
Hands-On Training
Supervised practical guidance in real-world settings
Simulation
Immersive Practice environments to build real skills and confidence
AI & Business Skills
Equipping learners with technical and commercial literacy for modern trades market
Market Validation
We've spoken to the people we're building for
Hosted our first "Painters in Pubs" event in London, bringing together white-collar professionals actively exploring career transitions into the skilled trades.
Video highlights available Click here
Multiple enquiries from professionals including:
- Finance → Electrical
- Law → Painting & Decorating
- Marketing → Construction
- Technology → Skilled Trades
Our first courses launch Autumn 2026 in London.
These are already available online for people to join the waitlist.
"I already understand how the world operates. There is nothing in the marketplace designed for someone like me to switch careers."
– Anna Söderström, Paralegal
Customer Acquisition Validation
Early customer acquisition demonstrates strong demand for a £2,000 decorating pilot programme.
Cost per qualified lead
Landing page conversion
Programme value
Daily Ad Spend and Revenue
Illustrative revenue model based on real customer acquisition data and a conservative 15% conversion of qualified leads into paying customers. The analysis highlights the potential to scale revenue through disciplined investment in customer acquisition.
Early customer acquisition has validated demand. The next phase is executing our go-to-market strategy and deploying capital efficiently to convert that demand into revenue, and build the evidence required to scale.
Why Now?
The workforce transition challenge is accelerating
- Redundancies up 45% year-on-year
- UK unemployment 5.2%
- Over 1 million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)
- Severe labour shortages across construction, housing, infrastructure and energy
- Growing investment in AI infrastructure increasing demand for skilled trades
- Employers struggling to recruit despite growing workforce displacement
Today's labour shortages are not simply a skills problem, they're an education infrastructure problem.
Existing education paths were designed for a different era and a different demographic.
A New Model for Career Transition
The Right Team
We have built, scaled, and funded technology platforms before. Now applying that experience to a structural labour market shift. The Renzo founding team combines product expertise, deep technology capability, and a proven track record of raising capital and delivering exits.
Edmund Kendall
Co-Founder & CEO
Proven operator specialising in scalable digital learning platforms. Built Terra Academy into an enterprise e-learning product. Former Head of Customer Success at AI platform OBRIZUM.
Henning Kosmack
Co-Founder
Entrepreneur and technologist with deep experience in AI, gaming, and EdTech. Co-founded an EdTech initiative reaching 10,000+ students and founded BlazeByte, specialising in AI development and analytics.
Raf Keustermans
Co-Founder
Entrepreneur with multiple exits and $35M+ raised. Former CEO of Plumbee (acquired by Sony's GSN Games). Experienced in scaling global technology businesses from seed to exit.
Zachary Thurston
Co-Founder
Recent graduate from Esade entrepreneurship course, Zach specialises in business development with further expertise spanning Finance, Leadership, Digital Fabrication, and Software Development.
Ideal Customer Profile
Phase 1 – Workforce Transition Proof of Concept
Career-disrupted professionals (28–45)
Professionally literate adults seeking a faster route into resilient, well-paid skilled trades.
Examples include:
- Redundancy
- AI-driven displacement
- Mid-career plateau
- Professionals seeking greater income resilience
✅ Strong evidence of demand through waitlists, enquiries and community events.
✅ Motivated, self-directed learners with transferable workplace skills.
✅ Best audience to demonstrate accelerated workforce transition.
- Speed to employment
- Speed to income
- Employer and customer satisfaction
- Commercial viability of the Renzo model
GTM & Growth Roadmap
A phased approach to scaling workforce transition
Career Transition Platform
Customers
- Career-disrupted professionals
- Career changers
Objective
- Prove workforce transition model
- Validate employment outcomes
- Optimise technology platform
Enterprise Workforce Transition
Customers
- Employers restructuring workforces
- Outplacement providers
- Trade unions
- Workforce transformation programmes
Objective
- Help employers redeploy displaced workers
- Reduce recruitment bottlenecks
- Create recurring enterprise revenue
National Workforce Infrastructure
Customers
- Local Authorities
- Skills England
- DWP
- Combined Authorities
- Regional Growth Partnerships
Objective
- Deliver workforce transition at regional and national scale
- Address labour shortages and economic inactivity
* Further detail on GTM strategy is included in the Appendix.
Scaling Renzo.
This pre-seed round is designed to prove the Renzo model through measurable employment outcomes. From there, we intend to scale rapidly across multiple trades, geographies and customer segments. Our phased strategy (B2C, B2B and B2G) creates multiple high-value revenue streams while positioning Renzo as the workforce transition platform for the next generation.
As Renzo matures, average course pricing increases, as learners move into higher-value technical trades, improving both unit economics and overall margin as the platform scales.
Total Addressable Market
The displacement of white-collar workers by AI is a global, structural trend, not a temporary cycle.
Renzo is positioned to serve a multi-hundred-million-person addressable market, with a clear, focused entry point in the UK before scaling internationally.
The market narrows from the broad global opportunity to the most immediate early adopters:
Total Addressable Market 🇬🇧 £20M | 🌍 £2B
White-collar professionals exposed to automation. 40% facing AI disruption.
🇬🇧 8M | 🌍 800M potentially need retraining
Serviceable Available Market 🇬🇧 £8M | 🌍 £800M
Professionals aged 28–45 at mid-career plateau or redundancy.
🇬🇧 2M | 🌍 200M potential retraining candidates
Serviceable Obtainable Market 🇬🇧 £2M | 🌍 £200M
Early adopters actively willing to transition into skilled trades (conservative 10% conversion).
🇬🇧 200K | 🌍 20M
Revenue Model
Renzo will operate a hybrid revenue model designed to maximise accessibility while aligning incentives around successful workforce outcomes.
Upfront Course Fee
Learners pay an upfront fee for access to Renzo's accelerated training pathways, digital learning systems and practical training programmes.
Earnings-Based Commission
Renzo receives a percentage of learner earnings over a defined period once the learner successfully transitions into employment within the skilled trades.
Hybrid Model
A blended structure combining a reduced upfront fee with an earnings-linked repayment model.
Pilot Programme
To demonstrate real market demand and validate the Renzo learning model, we are launching two focused pilot programmes in Painting & Decorating, and Scaffolding.
Autumn 2026
2 week programme
🖌️ Painting & Decorating
✅ Learner Demand
✅ Industry Partner
✅ Training Location
Autumn 2026
1 week programme
🏗️ Scaffolding
✅ Learner Demand
✅ Industry Partner
✅ Training Location
Success Criteria
⚡ Speed to New Income
💰 Income Uplift
⭐ Employer Feedback
The Power Law Outcome
What if everything goes right?
The Setup
AI accelerates white-collar displacement globally. Millions of professionals need rapid reskilling. Skilled labour shortages continue to expand. Governments and corporations prioritise workforce transition.
The Shift
Traditional training pathways fail to scale. A new model becomes required: faster, scalable, outcome-driven. renzo proves the model early and builds the platform.
The Breakout
Individuals adopt at scale. Corporates embed Renzo into redundancy programmes. Governments deploy renzo across national reskilling initiatives.
The Outcome
Renzo becomes the default infrastructure for career transition — operating across trades, industries, and geographies. Millions of learners trained globally.
If Renzo wins, it defines the category.
Investment Opportunity
Renzo is raising £250,000 under the SEIS scheme in exchange for 15% equity at a pre-money valuation of £1.67M.
SEIS provides investors with significant tax relief — up to 50% income tax relief on investments, plus capital gains exemptions.
Use of Funds
✅ Build MVP
LMS, VR/AR modules, and digital infrastructure
✅ Establish Market Traction
Speak with customers in the market and existing training providers
Launch Pilot Programme
First paid cohort: Painting & Decorating, August 2026
Validate the Model
Prove demand, completion rates, and income outcomes
Prepare for Scale
Build the commercial and operational case for scale
6-Month Milestones
Within 6 months of seed funding, Renzo will demonstrate:
- Proven training methodology in multiple live cohort setting
- Multiple fully paid cohorts completed
- Early graduate income outcomes documented
- Feedback from employers and customers.
- Validated framework for expansion nationally, internationally, and across additional trades
Appendix
The following slides provide supplementary detail for investors, partners, and stakeholders who want to go deeper on the Renzo model, team, and market opportunity.
- Allocation of Capital — Detailed breakdown of how seed funds will be deployed across technology, learning materials, marketing, and operations
- Roadmap to Scale — Month-by-month execution plan to December 2026
- Measuring Success — Key metrics across learning competency, learner experience, market validation, economic outcomes, and investor KPIs
- Go-To-Market Strategy — Plan for high-trust customer acquisition before scaling through performance marketing and institutional partners.
- Digital Marketing Performance — Data from our initial paid ad campaign
- Meet the Founding Team — Full founder biographies and track records
- Meet the Advisory Team — Full advisorcords biographies and track records.
Allocation of Capital
The £250,000 seed raise will be deployed strategically over the next 6-12 months to build the platform, create learning content, run the pilot, and prepare for scale. Every pound is allocated with a clear purpose — and a £50K runway buffer ensures the team can execute scale from a position of strength.
2026 Roadmap to Scale
Renzo has a clear, month-by-month execution plan from capital raise through to scale. Every milestone is sequenced to build evidence, from platform build to first paid cohort to measurable graduate income outcomes.
July
Establish credible industry partners and build demo/MVP product.
Pilot cohort recruitment begins.
August
Begin investor dialogue to raised seed capital.
Course creation begins in earnest for pilot programme.
September
Testing and refinement of first course.
October
First series of pilot programmes begin.
November
Pilots continue.
Customer success process begins.
December
Having proven concepts, we scale the business.
Measuring Success
Renzo tracks performance across five interconnected pillars.Ensuring we demonstrate value to learners, employers, and investors simultaneously. These metrics create a virtuous feedback loop: better learning outcomes drive better economic results, which validate the model for scale.
Learning Competency
- Time to competency
- Assessment pass rates
- Practical skill evaluation scores
Learner Experience
- Programme completion rate
- Graduate satisfaction score
- Qualitative feedback
Market Validation
- Customer satisfaction with graduates
- Repeat and referral rate
- Time to learner break-even
Economic Outcomes
- Time to first income post-graduation
- Average earnings at 3–12 months
- Income uplift vs. previous role
Investor Metrics
- Cost per trained graduate
- Graduate retention rate
- Revenue per cohort
Go-To-Market Strategy
Build credibility → Generate demand → Scale acquisition
- Founder-led LinkedIn
- Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn
- Thought leadership & blogs
- Community events (e.g. Painters in Pubs)
- PR & industry speaking
- Learner referrals
- Waitlist building
- Meta & LinkedIn Ads
- Career transition landing pages
- AI & redundancy SEO
- Trade-specific campaigns
- Employer referrals
- Continuous content marketing
- Conversion optimisation
- Employers
- Training providers
- Industry bodies
- Local authorities & councils
- Job centres
- Trade unions
- Strategic B2B & B2G partnerships
Digital Marketing Performance
These figures are based on Renzo's live customer acquisition data and illustrate how increased marketing investment could translate into revenue generation ahead of our enterprise and government go-to-market strategy.
Daily Ad Spend and Customer Acquisition
A chart showing the correlation between ad spend (x axis) and the customer acquisition for Renzo's pilot programme should we extrapolate the existing CPA of £4.86 and assuming a 15% conversion rate.
* Further digital marketing performance data is available in the appendix.
Meet the Founding Team
Four founders. Deep complementary expertise across product, technology, fundraising, and scaling. We have built, funded, and exited technology platforms before. We are now applying that experience to one of the most significant structural labour market shifts of our generation.
Edmund Kendall
Co-Founder & CEO
Strategic operator specialising in scalable digital learning and SaaS. Conceived and built Terra Academy into a revenue-generating enterprise e-learning product. Former Head of Customer Success at AI learning platform OBRIZUM. Previously founded OTF, raising £250K under SEIS/EIS for a dynamic pricing SaaS platform.
Henning Kosmack
Co-Founder & Director
Serial entrepreneur and technology executive with deep experience in gaming and AI. Co-founder of an EdTech initiative reaching 10,000+ students. Founder of BlazeByte, specialising in AI, data, and analytics. Formerly in Corporate Development at Siemens and Nokia, and a long-standing angel investor.
Zachary Thurston
Co-Founder
Business development specialist with expertise spanning Finance, Leadership, Digital Fabrication, and Software Development. Focused on transforming innovative ideas into tangible results — bringing technical fluency across Python, Swift, HTML, and data tools to Renzo's growth strategy.
Raf Keustermans
Co-Founder & Director
Experienced founder and operator with a track record of building and scaling technology startups. Former CEO of Plumbee (acquired by Sony's GSN Games / Scopely) and Sportlight, a LiDAR & AI company serving professional sports. Has raised $35M+ from private, strategic, and VC investors. Former executive at Electronic Arts and Kindred Group.
Meet the Advisory Team
Robert Günther
Strategic Advisor
Former Meta and Unity executive specialising in AI, XR and immersive technologies. Founder of an AI and VR workforce training company, with deep expertise in simulation-based learning, strategic partnerships and the application of emerging technologies to skills development at scale..
Bob Upham
Strategic Advisor
Silicon Valley startup advisor, investor and former executive at Yahoo, Visa and Antler. Has advised hundreds of early-stage technology companies on fundraising, go-to-market strategy, international expansion and venture growth through leading accelerators, universities and corporate innovation programmes.
Ashish Jain
Fractional CTO
A commercially experienced technology partner with expertise across immersive learning, scalable infrastructure, engagement systems, and startup execution — well positioned to help RENZO build and scale.
Renzo